Hi All, it's been ages since I've been on here but desperately need some motivation at the moment!!!

I submitted my thesis last July, which was coming towards the end of my fourth year of the PhD... my supervisor was positive about it and told me to submit. However, I did have a sneaking suspicion at the time that he hadn't read it all that thoroughly, but i didn't have the guts to say it to him! (He's also my boss as I lecture part-time and he's head of department).

Anyway I was supposed to have the viva early last September but then all of a sudden it was postponed for a week, then another and another... and eventually in mid November (!) they told me that the viva wasn't going ahead and I would have to do a list of revisions before it would?!? Very confusing... I don't know exactly who passed down this order, but it wasn't the external examiner because my supervisor forwarded me an email from her that said she was still waiting for the viva to happen - so she doesn't even know about the plan to do revisions??? I spent all November and December talking to all sorts of people in the uni, heads of everything, trying to get a straight answer on what is going on but I couldn't... so anyway in January I said "well I guess I should just do the revisions then!!!"

By that stage it had been almost six months since I submitted so I had lost any momentum that I had going last Summer... then also I have a bigger teaching load this semester so I haven't been getting as much done as I should! Also, I am getting married in three weeks, and there is only one month after I come back until this year's submission deadline... so I have about 7/8 weeks left and SOOO much work to do. Finally, my grandmother died last week :-( So my plans to get a ton of work done over the Easter break kind of faded away. It's now the last day of Easter hols (from teaching!) and I am so far behind...

I guess the real problem is that I just have zero motivation at the moment. I want to enjoy the buildup to the wedding but I am so stressed that thoughts of wedding are now synonymous with thoughts of deadlines!!! But I have to get loads done before the wedding because there's not going to be enough time afterwards... If I miss the graduation deadline AGAIN this year... AGGGHHHH!!! It doesn't even bear thinking about!

I'm sorry for the long and rambling post - but does anyone have any advice??? Please tell me something very motivating that will make me want to work around the clock for the next three weeks and magically get loads done???

Dear Rosy. What an unfortunate chain of events for you. I can sympathise with some of those, and I wish you patience to put up with all. I know it's a cliché to say this, but true, that you've been through the worst now. It can only get better. Perhaps you can concentrate on the wedding, and try your best to truly enjoy it, so it would give you an enormous motivation. Good thing is you have a partner who can support you, and probably they've seen you go through all of this. So if you give up now without trying your best, it will all be for nothing.

Can there be any way to get some kind of extension? Given the unexpected circumstances people might be more understanding.

Also, come to the forum to share. Today it seems to be a bit quiet but I'm sure lots of people will support you here.

It's not the same situation I know, but someone I met at a conference once, and a very close friend of mine been to similar situation. The guy at the conference apparently asked someone else at another uni to become his external supervisor to sort things out in the last minute. And my friend (after having endless problems with her uni) pulled her submission from her uni and submitted her thesis to an Australian institute with the help of her supervisor. She now has her PhD, happily ever after. What I mean is, there can be solutions to most difficult situations. So hopefully there will be one to yours too. You can do loads in a month if you put your mind to it.

I myself in a weird situation with the thesis and it is my last chance to be able to submit... trying to keep the attitude and hard work together. Hearing other people's stories really do help. Make this your priority, and don't let anyone get in the way unit the deadline. I wish good luck to you (up)

Hi Rosy

Oh, that sounds really hard, you've got a lot on your plate. But the end is in sight!! You have a deadline, and it's not too far off! Make a list of what needs to be done, put it on the wall, cross off each thing as you do it. Count down the number of days - I change my screen saver every day, and I know I'm getting closer to my goal. Stick affirmations up around you, do other things that might help, stick up a photo of your wedding dress to motivate you maybe. Then go, go, go!! Let us know you're getting on.

Hi 404 and Sue, thanks for the replies! I think I am just going to get as much done in the next two weeks as I can and then enjoy the time off - which will be about 2.5 weeks in total, yippeee!!! I will be coming back to the craziest month ever but at least I will be all nice and relaxed :-)

Sorry to hear all the problems with thesis and about your grandmother. :( I could be wrong but I guess perhaps they ask for the revisions becos otherwise they may fail you/pass with major corrections at the Viva? In which case they have kinda allow you to save your thesis - fail/major corrections won't look v good on your CV...

As for needing to get so much done in little time, I agree that it should be helpful to list things/tasks you need to do and cross them off when you've got them done. Make the tasks small and (relatively) achievable. Then as you cross them off one by one, and at the end of each day you can see the progress you've made and feel good that you're getting closer and closer to getting everything done.

Good luck with the thesis and planning wedding!!